Lady Colts edge Osceola, 59-57

WILSON - The Osceola Lady Seminoles dropped to a conference record of 2-9 after a narrow defeat on Rivercrest’s home court Monday. The hosts overcame a shaky first half to comeback and ekke out a 59-57 win. Senior Destiny Burks jockeyed the Colts to the razor-thin win, scoring 16 of her game-high 26 points in the second half. Two other Colts reached double figures, as Lakiya Speed posted 12 points and Jalexia Young ended with 10 points. Despite the loss, Teriyah Lee and America McNeal were proactive, finishing with 15 points each. Arionna Dolton added 11 points for the Lady Noles.

Osceola opened up strong, enforcing their will inside as Kensley Whitfield got a bucket to go on one end and then emphatically blocked a shot on the other. The Colts implemented a full-court press, but not without consequence, as Tykeria Harris broke the press and found Shakari Black open down low on consecutive possessions. Osceola held a 10-4 lead and the Colts called timeout after six minutes played. Burks pressed the issue before the quarter ended, grabbing two steals and scoring a pair of layups to pull the Colts back 10-8.

Lee and Burks dueled behind the arc, both draining a shot to open the quarter. The Colts press created some turnovers, but left openings inside, and the Noles capitalized. Whitfield was a problem on the offensive boards, and her putback bucket made it 18-13. After a few successful free throws by the Colts and a three-point make courtesy of Speed, the Colts seemed to be gaining some steam. Osceola scored on back-to-back possessions before Lee and Burks matched each other from distance once again. Burks dribbled into a step-back three and buried it before Lee stepped into one to beat the halftime buzzer. Her shot gave Osceola a 29-22 lead going into the second half.

The Lady Colts broke through the gates scoring eight unanswered points. McNeal ended the run when she scored at the rim despite being fouled. She missed at the line, but took it back inside on the next possession and scored a putback. Rivercrest wouldn’t go away, as Burks hit her third three around a screen by Young. A few plays later, Lee returned with a triple. Burks went right back at her, driving to the rim to score. As the quarter came to a close, Dolton scored her fourth basket, bringing the Noles within two, but Ella Gonzalez and Speed both made good on trips to the line. Burks continued to show up in pivotal moments, as she got a steal and drained a fadeaway over her defender to close out the quarter with a spark and a 46-38 lead for Rivercrest.

Osceola battled to stay in it. Jones and Black scored early in the quarter, and Dolton delivered from the perimeter to bring the deficit down to six points. Burks scored inside and then made good on a breakaway layup which looked like the dagger, but Lee returned fire once again, hitting her fourth three, giving the Noles some life down just five with 1:30 remaining. McNeal nearly pulled it back, depositing a pair of free throws with under 20 seconds remaining, but the Colts scored again, and her late shot inside on the next possession could only pull as close as the final two-point margin.

Rivercrest head Coach Ronnie Dye made some key adjustments in the second-half to catalyze the comeback. “We went to a 5-out offense. We wanted to spread the floor and give ourselves an easier time driving by pulling Whitfield out of the paint and minimizing help defense. They could bring help on our drives or double us until we went 5-out.” Dye sees potential in his group this year, “We need to finish better at the rim and do a better job rebounding going into the district and regional tournaments. If we clean it up, I think we can make some noise.” The Lady Colts improved to 9-2 in conference. They occupy the second seed behind Manila’s unbeaten record in 3A-3.